My Houzz: A 1950s Bungalow Grows Up and Greens Out
Beauty and energy efficiency go hand in hand in this expanded and renovated Massachusetts forest home
After living in Germany, Italy and Spain, architects Gail and Robert Karn moved their family back to the United States, bringing a European design edge with them.
The couple scooped up an outdated 1950s bungalow on 2 acres of oak forest and set out to incorporate some of the super-energy-efficient designs they had experienced abroad: highly insulated, robustly ventilated, south oriented (to capture heat and light) — all elements of the Passive House standard. "Our goal was to build a small yet spacious, beautiful, energy-efficient home that captured the unique natural cirumstances like the ones we designed and experienced throughout Europe," says Gail. The renovation included a 1,450-square-foot vertical addition.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Gail Karn, director of technical sales for Rheinzink and her husband, architect Robert Karn of Consilium Urban Design and Architecture
Location: Sudbury, Massachusetts
Size: 2,700 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Cost: $90 per square foot for just the 1,450-square-foot addition
The couple scooped up an outdated 1950s bungalow on 2 acres of oak forest and set out to incorporate some of the super-energy-efficient designs they had experienced abroad: highly insulated, robustly ventilated, south oriented (to capture heat and light) — all elements of the Passive House standard. "Our goal was to build a small yet spacious, beautiful, energy-efficient home that captured the unique natural cirumstances like the ones we designed and experienced throughout Europe," says Gail. The renovation included a 1,450-square-foot vertical addition.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Gail Karn, director of technical sales for Rheinzink and her husband, architect Robert Karn of Consilium Urban Design and Architecture
Location: Sudbury, Massachusetts
Size: 2,700 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Cost: $90 per square foot for just the 1,450-square-foot addition
AFTER: A bridge now connects the driveway to the top level, which is the new third floor and houses the living room, dining room, kitchen and an office–guest room. The second level, which was the main level of the original home, contains the bedrooms, while the bottom is an unfinished basement.
Wisteria grows over the Western red cedar bridge. The couple plans to let the wisteria grow around the bridge and over the deck rails, and to put in a roof garden. In the most recent year, the home's total utility cost was $200 a month, and the Karns hope to lower that amount by installing rooftop solar panels.
Wisteria grows over the Western red cedar bridge. The couple plans to let the wisteria grow around the bridge and over the deck rails, and to put in a roof garden. In the most recent year, the home's total utility cost was $200 a month, and the Karns hope to lower that amount by installing rooftop solar panels.
To avoid increasing the footprint, the Karns built up instead of out. The renovation more than doubled the home's original square footage. The facade material is Rheinzinc, which is a 99 percent zinc and 1 percent a titanium material that doesn't require painting.
Cedar slats surround the fronts and sides of two decks, creating privacy while still allowing airflow and light.
The home is designed to efficiently deal with hot, humid summers and freezing-cold winters. "In the winter passive solar through south-facing windows augments the radiant floor system, often turning off the radiant system even at low outside temperature on sunny days," Robert says.
Radiant floor heating and domestic hot water are supplied by a natural gas tankless hot-water heater. "Excess heat is collected and circulated to the lower floors with a high-velocity air system," he says. "The original home at more than half the size had a huge oil burner to heat the house."
Air system: Spacepak and Unico; water heater: Takagi; air conditioner: Fujitsi
Radiant floor heating and domestic hot water are supplied by a natural gas tankless hot-water heater. "Excess heat is collected and circulated to the lower floors with a high-velocity air system," he says. "The original home at more than half the size had a huge oil burner to heat the house."
Air system: Spacepak and Unico; water heater: Takagi; air conditioner: Fujitsi
A window with glass shelves connects the kitchen to the dining area and serves as a bar and a food pass-through.
Dining chairs: Bellini
Dining chairs: Bellini
Sliding doors maximize and control the ventilation by allowing cross breezes in warmer weather. A French bronze sculpture sits on a pedestal made from an old baby playpen. Robert took the photo on the wall; it's of a French chateau reflected in a canal of water.
Flooring: Buy Direct
Flooring: Buy Direct
Conservation land surrounds the house on three sides, creating gorgeous views unlikely to ever change. "In the summer the oak forest provides sufficient shade to require air conditioning approximately eight to 10 days a year," Robert says.
Radiant floor: Heatlink
Radiant floor: Heatlink
Living room furniture: BoConcept
Models of Barcelona and Rome sit on the coffee table. The fireplace surround is made of the same zinc material as the exterior of the house.
Coffee table: Calligaris
Coffee table: Calligaris
Maple and stainless steel cabinets blend with the maple floor and metal finishes in the kitchen.
Cabinets: Ikea; countertops: granite, Watertown Tile
Cabinets: Ikea; countertops: granite, Watertown Tile
In the home's open floor plan, the kitchen connects to a hall/study area and the foyer at the front of the home.
The family uses the deck off the kitchen and dining area for entertaining during warmer months. All the decking is made of Western red cedar, which naturally turns a soft gray and complements the zinc exterior that wraps the home.
The simple, clean lines of this bathroom are enhanced by a round stainless steel pedestal sink on a slab of granite, and a wall-mounted faucet and soap dispenser from Kohler.
Robert designed and built the foyer window to give the impression of frozen crystal. Plastic champagne glasses are stacked between a double-pane window on the exterior and a single-pane window on the interior. His inspiration came from an exhibit at the 2000 World Expo in Hanover, Germany. There a church made of glass panes included found objects such as feathers, pinecones, lightbulbs and more between the panels.
All of the walls in the home are smooth-finish plaster covered with a nonyellowing decorator varnish to give them a subtly textured, rustic look. A kimono with an embroidered poem hanging on the wall was a gift to Gail from Robert's brother.
Hanging rod: Home Depot
Hanging rod: Home Depot
Robert designed and built this two-story display case with glass and aluminum. These stairs lead down to the bedroom level, the home's original first story.
The semifloating staircase is anchored to the display case on the left and secured with a tension cable on the right. Aluminum rods installed between each stair tread to meet building safety codes add an interesting visual design element. This is the view from the bedroom level to the basement level, which is a work in progress.
The main bedroom is minimalist in its furnishings to allow for a focus on the surrounding woodland views.
The main bathroom features budget-friendly opaque cabinet doors from Ikea. The heat and domestic hot water are supplied by a tankless water heater with a Superstor isolation tank.
Mechanical: RER Fuel Service
Mechanical: RER Fuel Service
This is the view of the back of the home. The stonework is a stone wall and a fire pit.
Gail and Robert Karn, shown here, are founders of the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Urbanism and run a program called CIAO! (Center for Introduction to Architecture Overseas) based near Rome, Italy, for high school students interested in the "built" world.
"The primary strategy was to capture and maximize the benefits of the natural, physical and built environment to reduce the man-made impact," Robert says. "We did this by building a small, simple, inexpensive-to-maintain home that is dramatic, disguising its compactness."
Your turn: Show us your renovated home
"The primary strategy was to capture and maximize the benefits of the natural, physical and built environment to reduce the man-made impact," Robert says. "We did this by building a small, simple, inexpensive-to-maintain home that is dramatic, disguising its compactness."
Your turn: Show us your renovated home
The couple devoted every weekend to the renovation — with help from their three sons, who have since moved on to college — beginning with removing the roof and the existing exterior.